When Robert Cooper debuted St-Germain in 2007, he despatched a shockwave via the bar business. Launched within the first few years of the cocktail renaissance, St-Germain was the world’s first industrial elderflower liqueur — and one of many first high-quality, artisan liqueurs to hit the market in a long time. The timing couldn’t have been higher. Within the late aughts, cocktail modifiers had been largely restricted to fortified wines and vermouths, and those that did exist had been centuries outdated, like inexperienced and yellow Chartreuse. St-Germain was new, it was thrilling, and Cooper knew the best way to get it in entrance of the appropriate individuals.
Bartenders at pioneering cocktail institutions like NYC’s Please Don’t Inform and Demise & Co. latched onto the flavorful liqueur, stirring it into every thing from tequila-based Martini variations to intricate gin-forward Tiki drinks. It didn’t take lengthy for the development to unfold. Affectionately nicknamed “bartender’s ketchup” for its versatility and avid fanbase, St-Germain rapidly turned a fixture at bars across the nation.
However because the cocktail revolution gained momentum, and ingredient high quality improved throughout the board, the variety of liqueurs and cocktail modifiers additionally multiplied. Positive, the liqueur remained a extensively utilized and beloved bartender’s staple, however St-Germain not dominated cocktail menus in the best way it as soon as had.
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Flash-forward to the 2020s, although, and one St-Germain cocktail has emerged as a standout favourite. Years after being declared the drink of the summer time, the Hugo Spritz is on an unstoppable tear, showing on menus and TikTok feeds from coast to coast. St-Germain has leaned all the best way in, closely investing in advertising the drink with celebrity-backed campaigns centered particularly across the Hugo Spritz. All of it begs the query: How did St-Germain go from bartender’s ketchup to a licensed spritz sensation?
Bartender’s Ketchup Was By no means a Unhealthy Factor
The concept for St-Germain originated from a cocktail Cooper loved whereas visiting London that used elderflower syrup as a sweetener. When he returned to the States, he discovered nothing remotely comparable available on the market. So he set to work on a recipe that might seize the essence of freshly picked elderflowers in full bloom. The outcome was St-Germain, a 40-proof French liqueur that rapidly discovered favor as soon as Cooper obtained it into the fingers of influential bartenders. From there, it didn’t take lengthy for it to take off and earn its enduring nickname, “bartender’s ketchup.”
A type of early supporters was bartender Brian Miller, who was on the opening bar staff on the now-shuttered Pegu Membership in 2005 and as we speak serves because the bar supervisor at New Jersey’s Stockton Inn. Cooper, a Pegu Membership common, would usually drop by throughout improvement of St-Germain, bringing just a few completely different variations of the spirit for Miller to strive. “They used to have a bunch of ABVs and completely different variations in small little bottles,” he recollects. “I bear in mind simply loving it. There was actually nothing else prefer it round.”
When St-Germain formally hit the market two years later, Miller had been recruited by fellow Pegu Membership alum Phil Ward to open the primary Demise & Co. within the East Village. There, the liqueur rapidly turned a gradual fixture behind the bar.
“We used it quite a bit as a result of we liked it quite a bit, and we additionally liked Rob. However we didn’t do it to please him. There’s simply a lot you would do with it,” Miller says. “We had an Outdated Usual variation made with it. Phil [Ward] was making tequila drinks with it; these simply flew off the cabinets. We did Champagne drinks with it. I used to be even lucky sufficient to make certainly one of Rob’s favourite drinks, the Little Sparrow.”
Made with Calvados, apple brandy, Carpano Antica, St-Germain, Demise & Co.’s home Peychaud’s bitters, and garnished with a lemon, the Little Sparrow was simply certainly one of many St-Germain cocktails Miller developed. He additionally created the Winchester — and later the Double Barrel Winchester — a fancy tiki drink that comprises a boozy mix of gins, recent citrus, and syrups, together with the elderflower liqueur.
“It’s simply really easy to work with. It was like Rittenhouse Rye for all us dorks — solely it was elderflower liqueur.”
Miller explains that the creativity surrounding St-Germain on the time was extra than simply the novelty of getting a brand new ingredient. It was about having the room and freedom to experiment. And Demise & Co. was the proper surroundings.
“[Owner] Dave Kaplan was so good at letting us create what we wished, it was principally a lab for bartenders,” he says. “We had been always enjoying with elderflower and, oftentimes, it was the proper lacking ingredient. We simply wished everyone else to style it.”
However for St-Germain to really enter the general public vernacular, the model wanted to achieve extra than simply bartenders — it needed to join with on a regular basis customers, too. Enter: First Fridays on the Guggenheim. On the primary Friday of each month within the late 2000s, the enduring NYC museum would preserve its doorways open till the early hours within the morning, permitting visitors to view its paintings at night time whereas having fun with stay music or DJ units with a drink in hand.
For a yr, Miller labored these occasions alongside Rob Cooper and some different Demise & Co. bartenders, slinging St-Germain cocktails to keen crowds. And other people couldn’t get sufficient. Forward of every occasion, the staff would batch over 10,000 St-Germain drinks within the museum’s loading dock, and by the tip of the night, they had been nearly at all times solely gone.
“It’s simply really easy to work with. It was like Rittenhouse Rye for all us dorks — solely it was elderflower liqueur,” Miller says. “Everyone wished to assist Rittenhouse Rye they usually poured it in every thing. The identical factor went for St-Germain. Everyone wished to get their fingers on it.”
America’s fascination with the flavour sparked an period of every thing elderflower . However as with most tendencies, what’s recent and groundbreaking can rapidly grow to be overdone. Whereas St-Germain appeared to be in every thing for some time, because the cocktail revolution matured into the mid-2010s, bartenders returned to basic cocktails and their components — like Campari and different amari, for instance. In the meantime, ever extra high-quality liqueurs continued to hit the market. St-Germain, as soon as the go-to for creativity, not held its ubiquitous presence on cocktail menus.
“[St-Germain] is more energizing, brighter, and lighter-tasting than among the different choices. It provides a very refreshing taste in a spritz for drinkers making an attempt to interrupt away from the established order.”
“As cocktail tradition has advanced and grown extra refined, so too has the position of St-Germain behind the bar,” says Stacy Saltiel, model director for St-Germain. “With the rise of lower-ABV cocktails, fashionable mixology methods, and a renewed give attention to seasonality and terroir, St-Germain is not seen as simply a straightforward cocktail enhancer. It’s an intentional ingredient, chosen for its taste.”
However one cocktail specifically has emerged as the perfect clean canvas to showcase St-Germain’s signature elderflower sweetness: the Hugo Spritz.
Aperol Fatigue and the Proliferation of the Hugo Spritz
Aperol was first launched within the U.S. in 2006, nevertheless it wasn’t till a couple of decade later that the colourful liqueur actually embedded itself within the American zeitgeist. Aperol is no doubt the preferred selection within the spritz household of cocktails, dominating each on- and off-premise gross sales. In 2022, roughly 390,000 circumstances had been shipped to the U.S. In 2010, that quantity was a mere 9,000.
As early as 2019, nonetheless, reviews emerged about potential Aperol Spritz fatigue, with customers swapping Aperol for alternate options like Campari. But none have taken off fairly like St-Germain and the Hugo Spritz. First created in Italy in 2005, the unique Hugo Spritz didn’t embrace any liqueur in any respect. As a substitute, it was lemon balm syrup — and later housemade elderflower cordial — that joined forces with Prosecco and membership soda to craft the refreshing drink. However because it took maintain in America within the early 2020s, it was St-Germain that performed the main position.
In 2023, the Hugo Spritz was dubbed the “drink of the summer time,” and whereas the declaration might need been untimely, it was actually not off the mark. Since 2022, Google searches for “Hugo Spritz” have surged over 500 p.c, and the hashtag #HugoSpritz has garnered over 300 million views on TikTok. On-premise curiosity has additionally skyrocketed. Based on knowledge from Yelp’s 2024 Meals and Drink Traits report, searches for the Hugo Spritz final yr shot up 1,121 p.c in comparison with 2023.
“Shoppers are gravitating towards lower-ABV, flavorful cocktails, and the St-German Hugo Spritz delivers simply that: It’s more energizing, brighter, and lighter-tasting than among the different choices,” says Julian Arreola, St-Germain’s senior model ambassador. “It provides a very refreshing taste in a spritz for drinkers making an attempt to interrupt away from the established order.”
It doesn’t damage that the drink has some critical star energy behind it. Final yr, the Bacardi-owned model launched the “Spritz Up Your Summer season” marketing campaign, starring the Queen of the North herself, Sophie Turner. And it seems to have paid off. In August 2024, St-Germain skilled a 25 p.c gross sales increase off-premise, in line with Nielsen knowledge reviewed by VinePair. Trying to capitalize on this success, St-Germain introduced Turner again this yr to star in its 2025 summer time marketing campaign: “Sip Into One thing More energizing Tasting.”
Whereas the Hugo Spritz is likely to be stealing the highlight as we speak, a model of the drink made with St-Germain has really existed for a lot longer — suggesting that St-Germain was at all times certain for stardom. It simply didn’t have the identify but. Lengthy earlier than the Hugo Spritz as we all know it took over menus and feeds, there was the St-Germain Cocktail, a easy mix of elderflower liqueur, Champagne, and membership soda. Sound acquainted?
The St-Germain Cocktail really predated America’s Aperol Spritz obsession by about eight years, however its comparatively nondescript identify probably saved it from attaining the identical recognition.
“It’s at all times a irritating level of rivalry for me at Stockton when individuals order a Hugo Spritz,” Miller says. “I’m at all times like, ‘You imply a St-Germain Cocktail?’ And so they’ve nearly at all times by no means heard of it. It simply doesn’t have the spritz identify as a result of these weren’t actually a factor but. It is likely to be served with a mint sprig in it, however I’m sorry Gen Z, the drink was created earlier than you had been even born.”
Whether or not you name it a St-Germain Cocktail or a Hugo Spritz, one factor stays sure: St-Germain isn’t slowing down anytime quickly — and the Hugo Spritz is exhibiting no indicators of truly fizzling out. Now, different manufacturers are hungry to get in on the motion. Since St-Germain’s debut in 2007, a wave of elderflower liqueurs have hit the market, together with non-alcoholic variations designed for these abstaining from alcohol. However so far as iconic standing goes, it’s unlikely that any will ever obtain the identical fame.
“You’ll be able to inform the success of St-Germain based mostly on the truth that there are all these different corporations popping out with elderflower liqueurs,” Miller says. “And, I’m sorry, however none of them are nearly as good as St-Germain. St-Germain is the OG, and that’s that.”
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